Patriots appear primed to make move for Peppers

by bartHML on Mar 16, 2009 3:01 PM EDT Comment 23 comments

From Vic Carucci on NFL.com

The trade that sent Matt Cassel and Mike Vrabel to the Kansas City Chiefs appears to be only the first phase of some major wheeling and dealing by the New England Patriots this offseason.

The second phase, NFL sources say, is likely to involve a trade that would send Carolina Panthers defensive end Julius Peppers to the Patriots in exchange for the second-round pick (34th overall) they received from the Chiefs on Feb. 28.

According to league sources, the Patriots and Panthers are hoping to complete the deal at some point between the March 22-25 NFL owners meetings and the start of the draft on April 25.

The Front Office never sleeps... We have some interesting days ahead of us. Personally, I love Peppers, and I would be happy to have him here. Of course, his ability to play in a 3-4 scheme is pretty much unknown...

The views expressed in these FanPosts are not necessarily those of the writers or SBNation.

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love it

if BB says he can play the 3-4, I believe he can play the 3-4 until he’s proven wrong

"We few, we happy few, we band of brothers" Henry V

by Jeff Clark on Mar 16, 2009 4:06 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Wow

BB is on a roll.

by BOSPORTS on Mar 16, 2009 4:41 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

This is starting to get insane.

Pension Plan Puppets*
* Blog contains less than 2% puppet content by weight.

by Chemmy on Mar 16, 2009 4:45 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

great, but still a lot of days

between now and April 25th. I’d love to see Peppers here but I’m going to be guarded in my optimism until he’s traded and signed. :)

by jctsai12 on Mar 16, 2009 5:34 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I'm with you on that.

I’ll have to see it to believe it.

by NESilver on Mar 16, 2009 6:27 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

It is time to get crazy!

This guy is 6’7" 283 and fast as hell he makes Adalius Thomas look small. Then the pats can throw Jason Taylor at inside LB and then draft someone for our secondary lets get crazy!!

by Red Sox #1 Fan on Mar 16, 2009 7:01 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

stop! I'm drooling already

Keep the faith!

by Marima on Mar 16, 2009 7:38 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

If only...

When the deal is done then i will be happy. The more i ponder on the fact that J. Peppers might come to New England the more i question how we are going to afford Peppers on our roster with the cap space we have and the fact that we still have to sign the draft picks!!

by KDPPatsfan on Mar 16, 2009 9:26 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

sadly i think there is something he's not telling us

I think in order for us to get peppers, still have good cap space, and the fact that the panthers want someone equal in return, we have to trade them seymor and the second rounder.

by patriotguy on Mar 17, 2009 7:04 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

no to Seymour, yes to the second rounder

Keep the faith!

by Marima on Mar 17, 2009 7:13 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

but seriously

guys, what do you think the panthers want in return for peppers. in my book he’s better than seymor with more than half of his season he’s had double-digit sacks. There is no way we could get him for a second rounder since he is 28 ears old.

(and just in case someone brings up the moss deal in 07, he was on the raiders and a problem player in the locker room, and he did not put consistent numbers on the raiders.)

by patriotguy on Mar 18, 2009 8:42 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Seymour vs. Peppers

Different animal. Seymour is a DE in a 3-4 system; his job is to jam the line and create road blocks; he’s not primarily a pass rusher. Peppers is a DE in a 4-3. His job is much like OLB’s in a 3-4 – to rush the passer. Their body types are vastly different, too. Seymour’s got 30 lbs on Peppers.

Panthers will want a first rounder for Peppers. If they’re smart, they can get first talent with our 34th overall. They need to look at the shrinking market for a guy like Julius and the cost ($16.5 million and change) of hanging on to him. We made the same decision with Cassel and it was the right one.

Blogger at SBNation's New England Patriots blog, Pats Pulpit

by MaPatsFan on Mar 18, 2009 9:40 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

very true

however that’s why he want to play Outside Linebacker, which is the ideal pass rushing position that peppers may, or may not excel in(my guess is that he will excel). The question is who would replace both positions. The only player that I think who is at the same caliber(or close) is seymor. The player who would replace seymor is jarvis green, who i think is a great pass rusher and has potential to be a great DE.
Now if there is a player in the draft who would be available at 34 that could be the ideal replacement for peppers, please tell me who so I can look him up and not worry about giving seymor away.
Anyways my likely scenario is that we don’t get peppers, and pierre woods would replace vrable.

by patriotguy on Mar 20, 2009 7:33 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

too bad it might not happen though

by patriotguy on Mar 20, 2009 7:34 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Adam Schefter says no Peppers in NE

I was just listening to Adam Schefter on WEEI this morning (no link yet) and in his opinion the Peppers to Patriots deal will not happen. He thinks it would cost too much for the Patriots to get him, especially with the other deals that need to be made, i.e. the re-signing of Wilfork, Seymour, etc…

He might be wrong, but …

Keep the faith!

by Marima on Mar 17, 2009 8:36 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I don't buy it

Peppers would have to get $17M this year. That would kill the cap. Add to that that the Panthers are going to want a hell of a lot more than an early second rounder for him, and this just doesn’t make sense.

Now, if all it took to get Peppers was the Chiefs’ second rounder and Peppers would sign, say, a three-year contract for $30M or so total, I’d be on board. But this? It just doesn’t make sense.

by RSNexile on Mar 17, 2009 9:27 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I was under the impression

that unless Peppers signs the franchise tender, he can technically take a different deal to Carolina and get that approved. So the Panthers can’t shop him, but he can shop himself and then get the Panthers blessing. So a 3-year, $30 million deal may still happen. Still not sure how I feel paying $10 million a year to a 3-4 DE, even a blessedly gifted one, but it’s more palatable that $17 million!

Carolina is a bit in a bind because I think as long as that tender is offered, even if he hasn’t signed it, they still have the hit on their cap. So there’s a bit of pressure on their end to move him as well, since it’s eating up a lot of their flexibility right now. Also, if he does sign the tender, any team that tries to sign him away will have to give up two 1st round picks — I think that will scare off lots of suitors. So if Peppers is to make $17 million this season, I can’t imagine him doing it anywhere other than Carolina.

I still think there’s a lot of issues to work through, but the Patriots getting him may not be quite as long a shot as it seems at first blush?

by jctsai12 on Mar 17, 2009 11:43 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Franchise tag definitions

From wikipedia.org:

- An “exclusive” franchise player must be offered a one-year contract for an amount no less than the average of the top five salaries at the player’s position as of a date in April of the current year in which the tag will apply, or 120 percent of the player’s previous year’s salary, whichever is greater. Exclusive franchise players cannot negotiate with other teams.

- A “non-exclusive” franchise player must be offered a one-year contract for an amount no less than the average of the top five salaries at the player’s position in the previous year, or 120 percent of the player’s previous year’s salary, whichever is greater. A non-exclusive franchise player may negotiate with other NFL teams, but if he signs an offer sheet from another team, the original team has a right to match the terms of that offer, or if it does not match the offer and thus loses the player, is entitled to receive two first-round draft picks as compensation.

Blogger at SBNation's New England Patriots blog, Pats Pulpit

by MaPatsFan on Mar 17, 2009 11:57 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

but we can trade for him, right?

I can’t see us signing him away from the Panthers directly, especially if 2 first rounders are part of the package, but I guess those conditions are bypassed via trade? I keep forgetting that this is more about the Panthers avoiding a holdout rather than two teams engaged in a traditional bidding war.

by jctsai12 on Mar 17, 2009 12:22 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

We could come to terms

with Carolina on the compensation necessary to bring Peppers to New England. So, if we signed him directly without engaging any conversations with Carolina, the Pats would give up the two 1st rounders, but because that’s highly unlikely, they’d be more likely to bargain with Carolina and settle on something less (like, say, a high 2nd rounder).

by NESilver on Mar 17, 2009 3:37 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs